Why ‘Dracula’ Was the First Classic I Fell in Love With

I have a funny relationship with classic novels. They make up probably 80% of my bookshelf, and yet I find myself hesitating every time I open the first page of one. It’s because I’ve come to realise that ‘classic’ does not guarantee enjoyment. Yes, it usually does guarantee something well written, insightful and intellectually valuable. But that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to enjoy reading it. I can appreciate The Grapes of Wrath and its heartbreaking commentary on American industrialisation, while also knowing that I never want to subject myself to reading the approx. 500 page monstrosity again. When I was fresh out of university and still recovering from the effects of curriculum mandated reading, I had a phase where I truly thought I would never be able to read classics for pleasure. And then I received a copy of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (No, not that Bram Stoker’s Dracula), and I once again got to experience the joy of reading something both incredibly well written and fun to read . And while it’s certainly not a hidden gem, it is a book where people insist it’s one of the greats, and I had no choice but to agree. 

Epistolary Format Crucially Helps Maintain Pacing 

English teachers cannot help but add epistolary novels to their required reading lists, and I completely understand why. The Colour Purple, We Need to Talk About Kevin – I read some incredible books for school artfully told through the form of letters. But consequently as an adult reader, any time I read a book using this mechanism, I feel like I’m studying. Like I should be close-reading the text for an assignment rather than reading for myself. I think Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded was the book to really kill this format for me, a book I trudged through in my first year of uni that made me feel that telling a story through letters means to tell a story extremely slowly.

Also, I usually find stories that jump back and forth between different character perspectives ruin my immersion by slowing the momentum of the main story (though I know sometimes that’s the point). If On a Winters Night a Traveler is a good example of this, and unfortunately for this very same reason it was the only novel I abandoned last year.

Dracula opts to do both of these techniques, and yet not only does it avoid feeling “slow”, but it kept my rapt attention throughout. Why is that? I believe Stoker uses the diary/letter format in the best possible way – he allows the reader to be in the most interesting place at every part of the story. We’re with Jonathan Harker in Transylvania for only as long as it takes to convince us that his situation is truly terrifying. Then we have a change in perspective to the safety of England – only to learn that the terror has made its way there too. The pacing of Dracula is a marvel and my head positively spins when I consider just how much action Stoker fits in, where other books tend to do a lot less with a lot more pages. 

Character Range 

Another way the format is kept so fresh is by the veritable carousel of characters whose inner thoughts we get to experience. To recap we have:

The boy/girl next door
An assertive & affluent bachelorette 
Her three suitors – one of which is a Texas cowboy and another who is the head of an insane asylum
A German vampire hunter 
A Vampire

And on the last one, not just a vampire but the vampire  – Count Dracula himself.

The entire non-vampire cast is so varied, and Stoker really takes the time to contrast them against the undead by making them so ‘human’ with their distinct personalities and foibles. Sections with Lucy Westenra’s three suitors are particular favourites of mine – I love the dynamic of three men competing for the love of a single lady then deciding to come together to bring down evil incarnate. I thought the 1992 adaptation nailed the casting of this trio, so if you’ve seen the movie and also loved these characters, I urge you to give the source material a go.

An Unexpected Setting

Even the most unlikable novel can score points with me by challenging my expectations. Anyone unfamiliar with the book may be surprised to learn that when I think ‘Dracula’, I do not think of a gothic castle in Eastern Europe. Set largely in Victorian England, it’s the Whitby coastline that captured my attention most – a crumbling graveyard on a hill overlooking a seaside town, the town itself buffeted by sea winds and edged with mist. It’s moody, it’s in the British countryside (as many of my favourite books tend to be), and in short, it’s one of my favourite settings in a novel to date.

We Know the Story So Well That It’s Clichéd… Except It’s Absolutely Not! 

All of the above contribute toward avoiding my biggest fear going into this book: that because it’s been retold so many times, in so many ways on screen, it would be too trite. While Dracula does happily stray into melodrama throughout, I think it gracefully treads the line between being theatrical and being corny. Less “I vant to suck your blood, bleh!” and more “the last glimpse I had was of the bloated face, bloodstained and fixed with a grin of malice which would have held its own in the nethermost of hell.” 

It was the first book I read after university that I positively raced through – I found myself thinking about it when I wasn’t reading, and when someone says the word ‘classic’, it’s the first book that comes to mind. I’ve read even more classics since then, but I’m yet to find anything that has captivated me for as long as Dracula.

What’s the first book that comes to mind when you think ‘classic’? Have you read Dracula, and if so, what did you think of it? Let me know below!